Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

They just got through the gate before you cancelled their funding. I might come back to that a bit later. I am not familiar with that project. I will come back to some general questions a bit later in the debate, but let's just get started on the running sheet. I bring forward the first Australian Greens amendment on the running sheet, which is schedule 1, item 8. I will put to the chamber what this amendment does, effectively, and seek opposition and government support. The current bill requires Infrastructure Australia to take into account forecast growth when it is conducting its audits to determine the adequacy, capacity and condition of nationally significant infrastructure. That is reasonable. The Greens simply seek to add 'consideration of economic, social, environmental sustainability' when Infrastructure Australia performs these audits. Infrastructure Australia is a small team. It is not a vast government department. It is a relatively small, very expertise based group of people. So, effectively, what they are doing is outsourcing to the states and territories the primary work. When projects are brought forward for consideration by IA, that work is being done in state planning and transport departments, energy departments or departments of water for that matter, depending on the project kind.

Unless we embed these considerations in the process of conducting these audits to get a sense of where the major infrastructure gaps are, which is one of the most valuable functions that IA performs, unless we take into account the so-called triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental sustainability—conducted at the same time for the same piece of infrastructure and not done in separate silos—we are going to end up building the wrong stuff. In some parts of the country there has been a pretty sad history of doing exactly that.

I commend the first green amendment on the running sheet that adds a second clause 'economic, social and environmental sustainability' when IA is conducting those audits. I commend that amendment to the chamber.

The TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN: I do not like to be terribly churlish here, but are you moving the amendments, Senator Ludlam?

Thank you for pulling me up on that, Chair. I seek some guidance and some commentary from the government and the opposition as to whether they will support this most worthwhile amendment.